The US Open can be thrilling, or dull, depending on who is really focusing. At the conclusion of the first week, it can be a blast, but winning and reaching the second week is the hardest. Many people — and I mean hundreds of players — have never made it into the quarterfinals at the Grand Slams. It is pretty rare. That is reality.
On Friday, there were some cool wins in a hot, sticky day. Four of the women won it, with Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Petra Martic and Jennifer Brady. Osaka and Kvitova have won twice at the Slams. Both of them can be some of the biggest hitters out there, cracking forehands and backhands, complimented by heavy first serves. They may not love the net, but they can bend down and put it away. But they have triumphed on the big stages before and they could do it again
Martic does push herself now, for more than for a year now, but to get even deeper, she has truly mix it up. The American Jennifer Bradly had a few wonderful wins, punching down Caroline Garcia. However, on Sunday, she will have to run for a long time because she has to play against the former No. 1 Angie Kerber, who can be steady for a long time. Because of that, Brady has to push herself more than ever.
You have to think that Novak Djokovic may never lose this year. He is totally brilliant, but there were some so-so patches being ticked off. Yet really, in three-out-of-five-sets matches, his confidence is right there. The No. 1 Djokovic is heavily favored in every match.
Denis Shapovalov wouldn’t quit, and it was very close, but he was pretty tired at the end. He edged Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. That was a huge victory, and the Canadian began to return. He is bigger and stronger than he was last year. He is growing up…
Alexander Zverev is so unpredictable at all the Slams, but he is so good when he is on. He could go far, into the semis, and then, it could face Djokovic. He would have to play his best ever to stun the Serbian.
At 1 am on early Saturday monring, Borna Coric edged Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) in 4 hours, 36 minutes. There were so many different strokes in many different rallies, but Coric never went down. He is playing more solidly, but on Sunday, he could be exhausted. It only Sunday, seven days, and now they can see that if they want to go further, they have to trust themselves.